Midwifery is a craft that shows how to proceed in
bring­ing the new-born child gently out of the womb of his mother and
how to prepare the things that go with that. It also shows what is good
for (a new-born child), after it is born, as we shall mention. The craft
is as a rule restricted to women, since they, as women, may see the
pudenda of other women. The woman who exercises this craft is called
midwife(qabilah, literally, "the woman who receives"). The word implies
the meaning of giving and receiving. The woman in labor in
a way gives the embryo to the midwife, and the latter receives
it.

This is as follows: When the embryo has gone through all
its stages 140and is completely and perfectly formed in the womb - the
period God determined for its remaining in the womb is as a rule nine
months - it seeks to come out, because God implanted such a desire in
(unborn children). But the opening is too narrow for it, and it is
difficult for (the embryo to come out). It often splits one of the walls
of the vagina by its pressure, and often the close connection and
attachment of (its) covering membranes with the uterus are ruptured. All
this is painful and hurts very much. This is the meaning of labor pains.
In this connection, the midwife may offer some succor by massaging the
back, the buttocks, and the lower extremities adjacent to the uterus.
She thus stimulates the activity of the (force) pushing the embryo out,
and facilitates the difficulties encountered in this connection as much
as she can. She uses as much strength as she thinks is required by the
difficulty of (the process). When the embryo has come out, it remains
connected with the uterus by the umbilical cord at its stomach, through
which it was fed. That cord is a superfluous special limb for feeding
the child. The midwife cuts it but so that she does not go beyond the
place where (it starts to be) superfluous and does not harm the stomach
of the child or the uterus of the mother. She then treats the place of
the operation with cauterization or whatever other treatment she sees
fit.

When the embryo comes out of that narrow opening with its
humid bones that can easily be bent and curved, it may happen that its
limbs and joints change their shape, because they were only recently
formed and because the - substances (of which it consists) are humid.
Therefore, the midwife undertakes to massage and correct (the new-born
child), until every limb has resumed its natural shape and the position
destined for it, and (the child) has again its normal form. After that,
she goes back to the woman in labor and massages and kneads her, so that
the membranes of the embryo may come out. They are sometimes somewhat
late in coming out. On such an occasion, it is feared that the
constricting power (muscle) might resume its natural position before all
the membranes are brought out. They are superfluities. They might become
putrid, and their putridity might enter the uterus, which could be
fatal. The midwife takes precautions against that. She tries to
stimulate the ejection, until the membranes which are late in coming out
come out, too.

She then returns to the child. She anoints its limbs with
oils and dusts it with astringent powders, to strengthen it and to dry
up the fluids of the uterus. She smears something upon the child's
palate to lift its uvula. She puts something into its nose, in order to
empty the cavities of its brain. She makes it gargle with (swallow) an
electuary, in order to prevent its bowels from becoming obstructed and
their walls from sticking together.

Then, she treats the woman in labor for the weakness
caused by the labor pains and the pain that the separation causes her
uterus. Although the child is no natural limb (of the mother), still,
the way it is created in the uterus causes it to become attached (to the
body of the mother) as if it were an inseparable limb (of her body).
Therefore, its separation causes a pain similar to that caused by the
amputation (of a limb). (The midwife) also treats the pain of the vagina
that was torn and wounded by the pressure of (the child) coming out.

All these are ills with the treatment of which midwives
are better acquainted (than anyone else). We likewise find them better
acquainted than a skillful physician with the means of treating the ills
affecting the bodies of little children from the time they are sucklings
until they are weaned. This is simply because the human body, at this
stage, is only potentially a human body. After (the child) is weaned,
(its body) becomes actually a human one. Then, its need for a physician
is greater (than its need for a midwife).

One can see that this craft is necessary to the human
species in civilization. Without it, the individuals of the species
could not, as a rule, come into being. Some individuals of the species
may be able to dispense with this craft. God may arrange it for them
that way as a miracle and extraordinary wonder. This, for instance, may
be done for the prophets. Or there may be some instinct and guidance
given to the child through instinct and natural disposition. Thus, such
children may come into existence without the help of mid­wives.

The miraculous kind (of births) has often occurred. It
has, thus, been reported that the Prophet was born with the umbilical
cord cut and circumcised, placing his hands upon the earth and turning
his eyes toward heaven. The same applies to Jesus (who spoke) in the
cradle,141
and other things.

The instinctive kind (of births) is not unknown. Since
dumb animals, such
as, for instance, bees and others
142have remarkable
instincts, why should one not assume the same for man who is superior to
them, and especially for those human beings who are singled out by acts
of divine grace? Furthermore, the common instinct of new-born children
that causes them to seek their mother's breast is a clear testimony to
the existence of an instinct in them. The ways of divine foresight are
too great to be grasped completely.

This explains the incorrectness of the opinion of
al­Farabi and the Spanish philosophers. They argue for the non-existence
of (the possibility) of a destruction of the various species (of beings)
and the impossibility of an end of created things, especially of the
human species. They say that once there has been an end to (the
existence of) individuals of (the human species), a later existence of
them would be impossible. (Their existence) depends upon the existence
of midwifery, without which man could not come into being, since even if
we were to assume that a child might (come into existence) without the
help of this craft and without being taken care of by (this craft) until
it was weaned, still, it could certainly not survive. (For not only
midwifery but also other crafts are needed. However,) the crafts cannot
possibly exist without the ability to think, because they are the fruit
of thinking and depend on it.

Avicenna undertook the refutation of this opinion,
because he was opposed to it and admitted the possibility of an end of
the various species (of beings) and of the destruction of the world of
creation and its subsequent re-establishment as a consequence of
astronomical requirements and strange (astral) positions which, he
thought, take place rarely over very long intervals of time. It requires
the fermentation, with the help of appropriate heat, of a kind of clay
that corresponds to the temper of (the being to be created). Thus, it
comes to be a human being. Then, an animal is destined for that human
being. In that animal, an instinctive (desire) is created (which is
directed) toward bringing that human being up and being kind to him,
until he exists fully and is weaned. Avicenna explained this lengthily
in the treatise which he entitled the Treatise
of Hayy b. Yaqzan.143

His argumentation is not correct. We agree with him in
regard to the (possibility of the) end of the various species (of
beings), but not on the basis of his arguments. His argumentation
depends on relating actions to a cause that makes (them) necessary. The
theory of the "voluntary agent"
144is a proof against him.
According to the theory of the "voluntary agent," there is no
intermediary between the actions and the primeval power, and there is no
need for such (a difficult) task. If we accepted (Avicenna's
argumentation) for the sake of the argument, (we might say that) it is
saying no more than thatthe continued existence of the
individual is the consequence of the instinctive desire to bring him up
which has been created in dumb animals. What, then, would be the
necessity that might call for (such a procedure), and further, if such
an instinctive desire can be created in a dumb animal, what would
prevent its creation in the child itself, as we (for our part) assumed
at the beginning? It is more likely that an instinct directed toward his
own interests is created in an individual than that one directed toward
the interests of someone else is created in (someone). Thus, both
theories (that of al-Farabi and that of Avicenna) prove themselves wrong
in their particular approach, as I have established.